Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus cutting a plate-shaped workpiece held on a holding table by a cutting blade.
Description of the Related Art
In a cutting apparatus in which cutting is performed by causing a cutting blade mounted to a tip of a rotating spindle to cut a plate-shaped workpiece held on a holding surface of a holding table, the tip of the cutting blade is detected by a transmission-type sensor to recognize a diameter of the cutting blade, and a height position of the cutting blade when the tip of the cutting blade contacts the holding surface is recognized, and based on these pieces of information, a cutting-in depth of the cutting blade into the plate-shaped workpiece is controlled (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5936923).
Specifically, a difference between a height of the cutting blade when the tip of the cutting blade is detected by the transmission-type sensor and a height of the cutting blade when the tip of the cutting blade contacts the holding surface is preliminarily recognized by the cutting apparatus, and by adding a height position of the cutting blade when the tip of the cutting blade is detected by the transmission-type sensor to the difference, a height position of the cutting blade when the tip of the cutting blade contacts the holding surface is calculated.
In addition, also during cutting, the tip of the cutting blade is detected by the transmission-type sensor, and accordingly, wear of the tip of the cutting blade is detected. Thus, the cutting-in depth of the cutting blade is controlled according to the detected wear.
The transmission-type sensor is disposed at substantially the same height as the holding surface of the holding table, whereby a moving distance of the cutting blade in a height direction is reduced, thereby enhancing efficiency of detection of the tip of the cutting blade.